Ultrahigh density vertical nand memory device and method of making thereof

ABSTRACT

Monolithic, three dimensional NAND strings include a semiconductor channel, at least one end portion of the semiconductor channel extending substantially perpendicular to a major surface of a substrate, a plurality of control gate electrodes having a strip shape extending substantially parallel to the major surface of the substrate, the blocking dielectric comprising a plurality of blocking dielectric segments, a plurality of discrete charge storage segments, and a tunnel dielectric located between each one of the plurality of the discrete charge storage segments and the semiconductor channel.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates generally to the field of semiconductordevices and specifically to three dimensional vertical NAND strings andother three dimensional devices and methods of making thereof.

Three dimensional vertical NAND strings are disclosed in an article byT. Endoh, et. al., titled “Novel Ultra High Density Memory With AStacked-Surrounding Gate Transistor (S-SGT) Structured Cell”, IEDM Proc.(2001) 33-36. However, this NAND string provides only one bit per cell.Furthermore, the active regions of the NAND string is formed by arelatively difficult and time consuming process involving repeatedformation of sidewall spacers and etching of a portion of the substrate,which results in a roughly conical active region shape.

SUMMARY

According to one embodiment of the invention, a method of making amonolithic three dimensional NAND string comprises forming a stack ofalternating layers of a first material and a second material over asubstrate, where the first material comprises a conductive orsemiconductor control gate material and where the second materialcomprises an insulating material, etching the stack to form at least oneopening in the stack, selectively etching the first material to formfirst recesses in the first material, forming a blocking dielectric inthe first recesses, forming a plurality of discrete charge storagesegments separated from each other in the first recesses over theblocking dielectric, forming a tunnel dielectric over a side wall of thediscrete charge storage segments exposed in the at least one opening,and forming a semiconductor channel in the at least one opening.

According to another embodiment of the invention, a method of making amonolithic three dimensional NAND string comprises forming at least onesacrificial feature over a substrate, forming a stack of alternatinglayers of a first material and a second material over the at least onesacrificial feature, where the first material comprises a conductive orsemiconductor control gate material and where the second materialcomprises an insulating material, etching the stack to form at least twoopenings in the stack, selectively etching the first material to formfirst recesses in the first material such that at least some of thefirst recesses are exposed in a first opening and at least someadditional first recesses are exposed in a second opening, forming ablocking dielectric in the first recesses, forming a plurality ofdiscrete charge storage segments separated from each other in the firstrecesses over the blocking dielectric layer, removing the at least onesacrificial feature to form a hollow region extending substantiallyparallel to a major surface of the substrate which connects the at leasttwo openings to form a hollow U-shaped pipe space comprising the firstand the second openings extending substantially perpendicular to themajor surface of the substrate connected by the hollow region, forming atunnel dielectric over a side wall of the plurality of discrete chargestorage segments exposed in the at least two openings, and forming asemiconductor channel in the hollow U-shaped pipe space.

According to another embodiment of the invention, a monolithic, threedimensional NAND string comprises a semiconductor channel, at least oneend portion of the semiconductor channel extending substantiallyperpendicular to a major surface of a substrate, a plurality of controlgate electrodes having a strip shape extending substantially parallel tothe major surface of the substrate, where the plurality of control gateelectrodes comprise at least a first control gate electrode located in afirst device level and a second control gate electrode located in asecond device level located over the major surface of the substrate andbelow the first device level, a blocking dielectric, the blockingdielectric comprising a plurality of blocking dielectric segments, whereeach of the plurality of blocking dielectric segments is located incontact with a respective one of the plurality of control gateelectrodes, and where at least a portion of each of the plurality ofblocking dielectric segments has a clam shape, a plurality of discretecharge storage segments, where each of the plurality of discrete chargestorage segments is located at least partially in a respectiveclam-shaped blocking dielectric segment, and where the plurality ofdiscrete charge storage segments comprise at least a first discretecharge storage segment located in the first device level and a seconddiscrete charge storage segment located in the second device level, anda tunnel dielectric located between each one of the plurality of thediscrete charge storage segments and the semiconductor channel.

Another embodiment of the invention provides a monolithic threedimensional NAND string comprising a semiconductor channel located overa substrate, the semiconductor channel having a U-shaped side crosssection, where the two wing portions of the U-shaped semiconductorchannel which extend substantially perpendicular to a major surface ofthe substrate are connected by a connecting portion which extendssubstantially parallel to the major surface of the substrate, aninsulating fill located over the connecting portion and separating twowing portions of the U-shaped semiconductor channel, a plurality controlgate electrodes having a strip shape extending substantially parallel tothe major surface of the substrate, where the plurality of control gateelectrodes comprise at least a first control gate electrode located in afirst device level and a second control gate electrode located in asecond device level located over the substrate and below the firstdevice level, a plurality of blocking dielectric segments, where each ofthe plurality of blocking dielectric segments is located in contact witha respective one of the plurality of control gate electrodes, aplurality of discrete charge storage segments, and a tunnelingdielectric located between the plurality of discrete charge storagesegments and the semiconductor channel.

According to another embodiment of the invention, a method of making amonolithic three dimensional NAND string comprises forming a stack ofalternating layers of a first material and a second material over amajor surface of a substrate, where the first material comprises aconductive or semiconductor control gate material and where the secondmaterial comprises an insulating material, etching the stack to form atleast one opening in the stack, selectively etching the first materialto form first recesses in the first material, forming a blockingdielectric in the first recesses, forming a plurality of discrete chargestorage segments separated from each other in the first recesses overthe blocking dielectric layer, forming a tunnel dielectric layer over aside wall of the plurality of discrete charge storage segments in the atleast one opening, forming a semiconductor material in the at least oneopening, etching a middle portion of the semiconductor material to formtwo wing portions of a semiconductor channel, the two wing portions ofthe semiconductor channel extending substantially perpendicular to themajor surface of the substrate; and forming an insulating fill locatedover the connecting portion and separating two wing portions of thesemiconductor channel.

According to another embodiment of the invention, a monolithic threedimensional NAND string comprises a semiconductor channel located over asubstrate, at least one end of the semiconductor channel extendingsubstantially perpendicular to a major surface of the substrate, aplurality of control gate electrodes having a strip shape extendingsubstantially parallel to the major surface of the substrate, where theplurality of control gate electrodes comprise at least a first controlgate electrode located in a first device level and a second control gateelectrode located in a second device level located over the substrateand below the first device level, a plurality of discrete charge storagesegments, where the plurality of discrete charge storage segmentscomprise at least a first discrete charge storage segment located in thefirst device level and a second discrete charge storage segment locatedin the second device level, a blocking dielectric located between theplurality of discrete charge storage segments and the plurality ofcontrol gate electrodes, and a tunneling dielectric located between theplurality of discrete charge storage segments and the semiconductorchannel, where the first discrete charge storage segment has a heightshorter than that of the first control gate electrode and the seconddiscrete charge storage segment has a height shorter than that of thesecond control gate electrode.

According to another embodiment of the invention, a method of making amonolithic three dimensional NAND string comprises forming a stack ofalternating layers of a first material and a second material over asubstrate, where the first material comprises a conductive orsemiconductor control gate material and where the second materialcomprises a sacrificial material which can be selectively etchedcompared to the first material, etching the stack to form at least oneopening in the stack, forming a blocking dielectric layer on a side wallof the at least one opening, forming a discrete charge storage materiallayer on the blocking dielectric layer in the at least one opening,forming a tunnel dielectric layer on the discrete charge storagematerial layer in the at least one opening, forming a semiconductorchannel layer on the tunnel dielectric layer in the at least oneopening, removing the second material to expose the blocking dielectriclayer between the first material layers, etching the blocking dielectriclayer and the discrete charge storage material layer using the firstmaterial layers as a mask to form a plurality of separate discretecharge storage segments and blocking dielectric segments, and depositingan insulating material between the first material layers, between theblocking dielectric segments and between the discrete charge storagesegments.

According to another embodiment of the invention, a monolithic threedimensional NAND string comprises a semiconductor channel located over asubstrate, at least one end of the semiconductor channel extendingsubstantially perpendicular to a major surface of the substrate, aplurality of control gate electrodes having a strip shape extendingsubstantially parallel to the major surface of the substrate, where theplurality of control gate electrodes comprise at least a first controlgate electrode located in a first device level and a second control gateelectrode located in a second device level located over the substrateand below the first device level, and a plurality of discrete chargestorage segments, where the plurality of discrete charge storagesegments comprise at least a first discrete charge storage segmentlocated in the first device level and a second discrete charge storagesegment located in the second device level, a blocking dielectriclocated between the plurality of discrete charge storage segments andthe plurality of control gate electrodes, and a tunneling dielectriclocated between the plurality of discrete charge storage segments andthe semiconductor channel. The blocking dielectric comprising aplurality of blocking dielectric segments. Each of the plurality of theblocking dielectric segments is located in contact with a respective oneof the plurality of control gate electrodes. At least a portion of eachof the blocking dielectric segments has a clam shape, and each of theplurality of control gate electrodes is located at least partially in anopening in the clam-shaped portion of a respective blocking dielectricsegment.

According to another embodiment of the invention, a method of making amonolithic three dimensional NAND string, comprises forming a stack ofalternating layers of a first material and a second material differentfrom the first material over a substrate, etching the stack to form atleast one opening in the stack, forming a discrete charge storagematerial layer on a sidewall of the at least one opening, forming atunnel dielectric layer on the discrete charge storage material layer inthe at least one opening, forming a semiconductor channel material onthe tunnel dielectric layer in the at least one opening, selectivelyremoving the second material layers without removing the first materiallayers, etching the discrete charge storage material layer using thefirst material layers as a mask to form a plurality of separate discretecharge storage segments, depositing an insulating material between thefirst material layers to form alternating layers of insulating materiallayers and the first material layers, selectively removing the firstmaterial layers to expose side wall of the discrete charge storagesegments, forming a blocking dielectric on the side wall of the discretecharge storage segments exposed between the insulating material layers,and forming control gates on the blocking dielectric between theinsulating material layers.

According to another embodiment of the invention, a monolithic threedimensional NAND string comprises a semiconductor channel, at least oneend portion of the semiconductor channel extending substantiallyperpendicular to a major surface of a substrate, a plurality of controlgate electrodes extending substantially parallel to the major surface ofthe substrate, where the plurality of control gate electrodes compriseat least a first control gate electrode located in a first device leveland a second control gate electrode located in a second device levellocated over the major surface of the substrate and below the firstdevice level, an interlevel insulating layer located between the firstcontrol gate electrode and the second control gate electrode, a blockingdielectric, the blocking dielectric comprising a plurality of blockingdielectric segments, where each of the plurality of blocking dielectricsegments is located in contact with a respective one of the plurality ofcontrol gate electrodes, a plurality of discrete charge storagesegments, where each of the plurality of discrete charge storagesegments is located at least partially in contact with a respectiveblocking dielectric segment, and where the plurality of discrete chargestorage segments comprise at least a first discrete charge storagesegment located in the first device level and a second discrete chargestorage segment located in the second device level, a tunnel dielectriclocated between each one of the plurality of the discrete charge storagesegments and the semiconductor channel, and at least a first conductiveor semiconductor shielding wing located between the first discretecharge storage segment and the second discrete charge storage segment.

According to another embodiment of the invention, a method of making amonolithic three dimensional NAND string comprises forming a stack ofalternating layers of a first layer and a second layer, where the firstlayer comprises a conductive or semiconductor control gate material, andwhere the second layer comprises an insulating sub-layer and a firstsacrificial sub-layer, etching the stack to form at least one opening inthe stack, selectively etching the first layer to form first recesses,forming a blocking dielectric in the first recesses, forming a pluralityof discrete charge storage segments separated from each other in thefirst recesses over the blocking dielectric, forming a tunnel dielectricover a side wall of the discrete charge storage segments exposed in theat least one opening, forming a semiconductor channel in the at leastone opening, etching the stack to expose a back side of the stack,removing the first sacrificial sub-layer to form second recesses, andforming a plurality of conductive or semiconductor shielding wingsseparated from each other in the second recesses, where the firstsacrificial sub-layer is located above or below the insulating sub-layerin each second layer.

According to another embodiment of the invention, a method of making amonolithic three dimensional NAND string, comprises forming a stack ofalternating layers of a first layer and a second layer, where the firstlayer comprises a first sacrificial sub-layer, a second sacrificialsub-layer and a third sacrificial sub-layer located between the firstsacrificial sub-layer and the second sacrificial sub-layer, etching thestack to form at least one opening in the stack, selectively etching thethird sacrificial sub-layer to form first recesses, forming a pluralityof discrete charge storage segments separated from each other in thefirst recesses, forming a tunnel dielectric over a side wall of thediscrete charge storage segments exposed in the at least one opening,forming a semiconductor channel in the at least one opening, etching thestack to expose a back side of the stack, removing the first sacrificialsub-layer, the second sacrificial sub-layer and the third sacrificialsub-layer to form clam-shaped openings such that the plurality ofdiscrete charge storage segments are exposed in the clam-shapedopenings, forming a plurality of clam-shaped blocking dielectricsegments in the clam-shaped openings over the plurality of discretecharge storage segments, and forming a plurality of clam-shaped controlgate electrodes in the clam-shaped openings over the plurality of theclam-shaped blocking dielectric segments. The second layer comprises aninsulating layer, and the third sacrificial sub-layer comprises asacrificial material different from the first sacrificial sub-layer, thesecond sacrificial sub-layer, and the second layer.

According to another embodiment of the invention, a method of making amonolithic three dimensional NAND string comprises forming a stack ofalternating layers of a first layer and a second layer over a substrate,where the first layer comprises a conductive or semiconductor controlgate material and where the second layer comprises an insulatingmaterial, etching the stack to form at least one opening in the stack,selectively etching the first layer to form first recesses, forming aconductive or semiconductor liner in the first recesses, the conductiveor semiconductor liner having a clam shape, forming a blockingdielectric over the conductive or semiconductor liner in the firstrecesses, forming a plurality of discrete charge storage segmentsseparated from each other in the first recesses over the blockingdielectric, forming a tunnel dielectric over a side wall of the discretecharge storage segments exposed in the at least one opening, and forminga semiconductor channel in the at least one opening.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A-1B are respectively side cross sectional and top crosssectional views of a NAND string of one embodiment. FIG. 1A is a sidecross sectional view of the device along line Y-Y′ in FIG. 1B, whileFIG. 1B is a side cross sectional view of the device along line X-X′ inFIG. 1A.

FIGS. 2A-2B are respectively side cross sectional and top crosssectional views of a NAND string of another embodiment. FIG. 2A is aside cross sectional view of the device along line Y-Y′ in FIG. 2B,while FIG. 2B is a side cross sectional view of the device along lineX-X′ in FIG. 2A.

FIGS. 3-4 are side cross sectional views of NAND strings of another twoembodiments.

FIGS. 5A-5B illustrate a first step of a method of making a NAND stringaccording to a first embodiment of the invention. FIG. 5A is aperspective view and FIG. 5B is a side cross sectional view along lineY-Y′ in FIG. 5A.

FIGS. 6-13 are side cross sectional views illustrating steps of themethod of making a NAND string according to the first embodiment of theinvention.

FIGS. 14A-21 illustrate steps of the method of making NAND strings shownin FIGS. 3 and 4 according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 14Ais a side cross sectional view. FIG. 14B is a top cross sectional viewalong line X-X′ in the side cross sectional view shown in FIG. 14A, andFIG. 14C is a top cross sectional view along line Z-Z′ in the side crosssectional view shown in FIG. 14A, while FIG. 14A is a side crosssectional view along line Y-Y′ in the top cross sectional views shown inFIGS. 14B and 14C. FIGS. 15-21 are side cross sectional views of themethod steps, except that FIG. 18B is a side cross sectional view alongline Y-Y′ in the perspective view shown in FIG. 18A. FIG. 20B is a sidecross sectional view along line Y-Y′ in the perspective view shown inFIG. 20A.

FIG. 22A shows a perspective view of a NAND string according to oneembodiment of the invention. FIG. 22B is a side cross sectional viewalong line Y-Y′ in the perspective view shown in FIG. 22A.

FIGS. 23A-27 illustrate steps of the method of making the NAND stringshown in FIG. 22A-22B according to one embodiment of the invention.FIGS. 22B, 23B, 24B and 25B are side cross sectional views along lineY-Y′ in the perspective views shown in FIGS. 22A, 23A, 24A and 25A,respectively.

FIGS. 28A-28B are side cross sectional views of NAND strings accordinganother two embodiments, respectively.

FIGS. 29A-34 illustrate steps of a method of making the NAND stringshown in FIG. 28A according to one embodiment of the invention. FIG. 29Bis a top cross sectional view along line X-X′ in the side crosssectional view shown in FIG. 29A. FIG. 30B is a top cross sectional viewalong line X-X′ in the side cross sectional view shown in FIG. 30A. FIG.32B is a top cross sectional view along line X-X′ in the side crosssectional view shown in FIG. 32A. FIGS. 31, 33 and 34 are side crosssectional views.

FIGS. 35A-42 illustrate steps of a method of making the NAND stringshown in FIG. 28B according to one embodiment of the invention. FIG. 35Bis a top cross sectional view along line X-X′ in the side crosssectional view shown in FIG. 35A. FIG. 36B is a top cross sectional viewalong line X-X′ in the side cross sectional view shown in FIG. 36A. FIG.38B is a top cross sectional view along line X-X′ in the side crosssectional view shown in FIG. 38A. FIGS. 37 and 39-42 are side crosssectional views.

FIG. 43 illustrates a side cross sectional view of a NAND stringaccording to another embodiment.

FIGS. 44-47 illustrate steps of a method of making the NAND string shownin FIG. 43 according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 48 and 49 illustrate a side cross sectional view of NAND stringsaccording to other embodiments.

FIGS. 50-51 illustrate steps of a method of making the NAND string shownin FIG. 49 according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 52 illustrates a side cross sectional view of a NAND stringaccording to another embodiment.

FIGS. 53-57 illustrate steps of a method of making the NAND string shownin FIG. 52 according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 58 illustrates a side cross sectional view of a NAND stringaccording to another embodiment.

FIGS. 59-63 illustrate steps of a method of making the NAND string shownin FIG. 58 according to one embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below withreference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that thefollowing description is intended to describe exemplary embodiments ofthe invention, and not to limit the invention.

A monolithic three dimensional memory array is one in which multiplememory levels are formed above a single substrate, such as asemiconductor wafer, with no intervening substrates. The term“monolithic” means that layers of each level of the array are directlydeposited on the layers of each underlying level of the array. Incontrast, two dimensional arrays may be formed separately and thenpackaged together to form a non-monolithic memory device. For example,non-monolithic stacked memories have been constructed by forming memorylevels on separate substrates and adhering the memory levels atop eachother, as in Leedy, U.S. Pat. No. 5,915,167, titled “Three DimensionalStructure Memory.” The substrates may be thinned or removed from thememory levels before bonding, but as the memory levels are initiallyformed over separate substrates, such memories are not true monolithicthree dimensional memory arrays.

The embodiments of the invention provide a monolithic, three dimensionalarray of memory devices, such as an array of vertical NAND strings. TheNAND strings are vertically oriented, such that at least one memory cellis located over another memory cell. The array allows vertical scalingof NAND devices to provide a higher density of memory cells per unitarea of silicon or other semiconductor material.

Embodiment I

In some embodiments, the monolithic three dimensional NAND string 180comprises a semiconductor channel 1 having at least one end portionextending substantially perpendicular to a major surface 100 a of asubstrate 100, as shown in FIGS. 1A, 2A, and 3-4. For example, thesemiconductor channel 1 may have a pillar shape and the entirepillar-shaped semiconductor channel extends substantiallyperpendicularly to the major surface of the substrate 100, as shown inFIGS. 1A and 2A. In these embodiments, the source/drain electrodes ofthe device can include a lower electrode 102 provided below thesemiconductor channel 1 and an upper electrode 202 formed over thesemiconductor channel 1, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 2A. Alternatively, thesemiconductor channel 1 may have a U-shaped pipe shape, as shown inFIGS. 3 and 4. The two wing portions 1 a and 1 b of the U-shaped pipeshape semiconductor channel may extend substantially perpendicular tothe major surface 100 a of the substrate 100, and a connecting portion 1c of the U-shaped pipe shape semiconductor channel 1 connects the twowing portions 1 a, 1 b extends substantially perpendicular to the majorsurface 100 a of the substrate 100. In these embodiments, one of thesource or drain electrodes 202 ₁ contacts the first wing portion of thesemiconductor channel from above, and another one of a source or drainelectrodes 202 ₂ contacts the second wing portion of the semiconductorchannel 1 from above. An optional body contact electrode (not shown) maybe disposed in the substrate 100 to provide body contact to theconnecting portion of the semiconductor channel 1 from below. The NANDstring's select or access transistors are now shown in FIGS. 1-4 forclarity. These transistors are described in more detail below.

In some embodiments, the semiconductor channel 1 may be a filledfeature, as shown in FIGS. 2A-2B and 4. In some other embodiments, thesemiconductor channel 1 may be hollow, for example a hollow cylinderfilled with an insulating fill material 2, as shown in FIGS. 1A-1B and3. In these embodiments, and an insulating fill material 2 may be formedto fill the hollow part surrounded by the semiconductor channel 1.

The substrate 100 can be any semiconducting substrate known in the art,such as monocrystalline silicon, IV-IV compounds such assilicon-germanium or silicon-germanium-carbon, III-V compounds, II-VIcompounds, epitaxial layers over such substrates, or any othersemiconducting or non-semiconducting material, such as silicon oxide,glass, plastic, metal or ceramic substrate. The substrate 100 mayinclude integrated circuits fabricated thereon, such as driver circuitsfor a memory device.

Any suitable semiconductor materials can be used for semiconductorchannel 1, for example silicon, germanium, silicon germanium, or othercompound semiconductor materials, such as III-V, II-VI, or conductive orsemiconductive oxides, etc. materials. The semiconductor material may beamorphous, polycrystalline or single crystal. The semiconductor channelmaterial may be formed by any suitable deposition methods. For example,in one embodiment, the semiconductor channel material is deposited bylow pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD). In some otherembodiments, the semiconductor channel material may be a recyrstallizedpolycrystalline semiconductor material formed by recrystallizing aninitially deposited amorphous semiconductor material.

The insulating fill material 2 may comprise any electrically insulatingmaterial, such as silicon oxide, silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride, orother high-k insulating materials.

The monolithic three dimensional NAND string further comprise aplurality of control gate electrodes 3, as shown in FIGS. 1A-1B, 2A-2B,and 3-4. The control gate electrodes 3 may comprise a portion having astrip shape extending substantially parallel to the major surface 100 aof the substrate 100. The plurality of control gate electrodes 3comprise at least a first control gate electrode 3 a located in a firstdevice level (e.g., device level A) and a second control gate electrode3 b located in a second device level (e.g., device level B) located overthe major surface 100 a of the substrate 100 and below the device levelA. The control gate material may comprise any one or more suitableconductive or semiconductor control gate material known in the art, suchas doped polysilicon, tungsten, copper, aluminum, tantalum, titanium,cobalt, titanium nitride or alloys thereof. For example, in someembodiments, polysilicon is preferred to allow easy processing.

A blocking dielectric 7 is located adjacent to and may be surrounded bythe control gate(s) 3. The blocking dielectric 7 may comprise aplurality of blocking dielectric segments located in contact with arespective one of the plurality of control gate electrodes 3, forexample a first dielectric segment 7 a located in device level A and asecond dielectric segment 7 b located in device level B are in contactwith control electrodes 3 a and 3 b, respectively, as shown in FIGS.1A-1B, 2A-2B, and 3-4. In some embodiments, at least a portion of eachof the plurality of blocking dielectric segments 7 has a clam shape.

As used herein a “clam” shape is a side cross sectional shape configuredsimilar to an English letter “C”. A clam shape has two segments whichextend substantially parallel to each other and to the major surface 100a of the substrate 100. The two segments are connected to each other bya third segment which extends substantially perpendicular to the firsttwo segments and the surface 100 a. Each of the three segments may havea straight shape (e.g., a rectangle side cross sectional shape) or asomewhat curved shape (e.g., rising and falling with the curvature ofthe underlying topography). The term substantially parallel includesexactly parallel segments as well as segments which deviate by 20degrees or less from the exact parallel configuration. The termsubstantially perpendicular includes exactly perpendicular segments aswell as segments which deviate by 20 degrees or less from the exactperpendicular configuration. The clam shape preferably contains anopening bounded by the three segments and having a fourth side open. Theopening may be filled by another material or layer.

The monolithic three dimensional NAND string also comprise a pluralityof discrete charge storage segments 9, each of which is located at leastpartially in an opening of a respective clam-shaped blocking dielectricsegment 7. Similarly, the plurality of discrete charge storage segments9 comprise at least a first discrete charge storage segment 9 a locatedin the device level A and a second discrete charge storage segment 9 blocated in the device level B.

The tunnel dielectric 11 of the monolithic three dimensional NAND stringis located between each one of the plurality of the discrete chargestorage segments 9 and the semiconductor channel 1. In some embodiments,the tunnel dielectric 11 has a non-uniform thickness and/or a notstraight sidewall near the plurality of discrete charge storage segments9. In other embodiments described in more detail below, the tunneldielectric 11 has a uniform thickness and/or a straight sidewall.

The blocking dielectric 7 and the tunnel dielectric 11 may beindependently selected from any one or more same or differentelectrically insulating materials, such as silicon oxide, siliconnitride, silicon oxynitride, or other high-k insulating materials.

The discrete charge storage segments 9 may comprise a conductive (e.g.,metal or metal alloy such as titanium, platinum, ruthenium, titaniumnitride, hafnium nitride, tantalum nitride, zirconium nitride, or ametal silicide such as titanium silicide, nickel silicide, cobaltsilicide, or a combination thereof) or semiconductor (e.g., polysilicon)floating gate, conductive nanoparticles, or a discrete charge storagedielectric (e.g., silicon nitride or another dielectric) feature. Forexample, in some embodiments, the discrete charge storage segments 9 arediscrete charge storage dielectric features, each of which comprises anitride feature located in the respective clam-shaped blockingdielectric segment 7, where the silicon oxide blocking dielectricsegment 7, the nitride feature 9 and the silicon oxide tunnel dielectric11 form oxide-nitride-oxide discrete charge storage structures of theNAND string. In some of the following description, a polysiliconfloating gate is used as a non-limiting example. However, it should beunderstood that a dielectric charge storage feature or other floatinggate material may be used instead.

FIGS. 5-13 illustrate a method of making a NAND string according to afirst embodiment of the invention.

Referring to FIG. 5A (a perspective view) and FIG. 5B (a side crosssectional view along line Y-Y′ in FIG. 5A), a stack 120 of alternatinglayers 121 (121 a, 121 b, etc.) and 122 (122 a, 122 b etc.) are formedover the major surface of the substrate 100. Layers 121, 122 may bedeposited over the substrate by any suitable deposition method, such assputtering, CVD, MBE, etc. The layers 121, 122 may be 6 to 100 nm thick.

In this embodiment, the first layers 121 comprise a first conductive(e.g., metal or metal alloy) or semiconductor (e.g., heavily doped n+ prp+ polysilicon) control gate material, and the second layers 122comprise a second insulating material (e.g., silicon nitride, siliconoxide, etc.). The term heavily doped includes semiconductor materialsdoped n-type or p-type to a concentration of above 10¹⁸ cm⁻³.

The deposition of layers 121, 122 is followed by etching the stack 120to form at least one opening 81 in the stack 120. An array of openings81 may be formed in locations where vertical channels of NAND stringswill be subsequently formed.

Next, the first material is selectively etched compared to the secondmaterial 122 to form first recesses 62 in the first layers 121 (i.e.,layers 121 a, 121 b, etc). The recesses 62 may be formed by selective,isotropic wet or dry etching which selectively etches the first material121 compared to the second material 112. The depth of each recess 62 maybe 6 to 100 nm.

A blocking dielectric 7 (also known as an inter-poly dielectric, IPD) isthen formed in the openings 81 such that the blocking dielectric coatsthe sides of the first recesses 62, resulting in a structure as shown inFIG. 6. The blocking dielectric 7 may comprise a silicon oxide layerdeposited by conformal atomic layer deposition (ALD) or chemical vapordeposition (CVD). Other high-k dielectric materials, such as hafniumoxide, may be used instead or in addition to silicon oxide. Dielectric 7may have a thickness of 6 to 20 nm. The blocking dielectric 7 comprisesa plurality of clam-shaped blocking dielectric segments (e.g., blockingdielectric segments 7 a and 7 b) in the first recesses 62 betweenoverhanging portions of the second material 122.

Further, a charge storage material 9 is formed in the openings 81 and inthe first recesses 62 over the blocking dielectric material 7, resultingin the structure shown in FIG. 7A. The charge storage material 9comprises a plurality of discrete charge storage segments (e.g., 9 a and9 b) formed inside an opening in a respective one of the plurality ofclam-shaped blocking dielectric segments (e.g., 7 a or 7 b). Thediscrete charge storage segments 9 a, 9 b are connected to each other byouter portions of the charge storage material 9 layer which extends inthe openings 81 adjacent to the protruding portions of the secondmaterial 122.

As explained above, in some embodiments, the discrete charge storagematerial 9 may comprise a charge storage dielectric material (e.g.,silicon nitride discrete charge storage dielectric feature).Alternatively, the discrete charge storage material may comprise aconductive or semiconductor floating gate material (e.g., a metal, metalalloy such as TiN, metal silicide, or heavily doped polysilicon floatinggate material). Any desired methods may be used to form the chargestorage material 9, such as ALD or CVD.

In some embodiments, the outer portions of the charge storage material 9which extend in the openings 81 adjacent to the protruding portions ofthe second material 122 can then be removed to separate the discretecharge storage segments (e.g., 9 a and 9 b) from each other, resultingin a structure shown in FIG. 8A. The outer portions of the blockingdielectric 7 which extend in the openings 81 adjacent to the protrudingportions of the second material 122 can then be removed to separate thediscrete blocking dielectric (e.g., 7 a and 7 b) from each other ifdesired. For example, the charge storage material and the blockingdielectric material may be anisotropically dry or wet etched in theopenings 81 in one step or two separate steps to leave the chargestorage material 9 only in the recesses 62 (i.e., inside the clam shapedportions of the blocking dielectric 7). The anisotropic etch may beextended to also etch the insulating material 122 to enlarge the size ofthe openings 81 if desired.

If it is desirable to form a metal silicide floating gates 9 a, 9 brather than polysilicon floating gates 9 a, 9 b, then a thin silicideforming metal layer, such as titanium, cobalt or nickel is formed by anysuitable method, such as ALD or sputtering, over the polysiliconfloating gates 9 a, 9 b shown in FIG. 8A. After a silicidation anneal,the floating gates 9 a, 9 b are converted to a metal silicide (e.g.,titanium, cobalt, nickel, etc. silicide) by the reaction of the metaland the polysilicon. Unreacted portions of the metal layer which remainover portions of insulating material 122 and blocking dielectric 7 arethen selectively etched away by any suitable selective etching method,such as a piranha etch for a Ti metal layer.

FIGS. 7B, 8B, 8C and 8D illustrate alternative methods to formpolysilicon floating gate charge storage segments 9 a, 9 b usingoxidation or silicidation followed by selective oxide or silicide etch.FIG. 7B illustrates structure similar to that of FIG. 7A, where apolysilicon floating gate layer 9 is formed in the openings 81.

As shown in FIG. 8B, the floating gate layer 9 is partially oxidized bywet or dry oxidation (i.e., oxidation in water vapor or air containingambient at an elevated temperature) such that polysilicon floating gatecharge storage segments 9 a, 9 b in recesses 62 remain unoxidized whilethe rest of layer 9 (e.g., the outside part over protruding secondmaterial 122) is converted to a silicon oxide layer 19 a. The segments 9a, 9 b remain unoxidized because the polysilicon layer 9 is thicker inthe recesses 62 than outside of the recesses 62 in openings 81. Thepartial oxidation may be a timed oxidation which is timed to terminatebefore the segments 9 a, 9 b are converted to silicon oxide.

As shown in FIG. 8D, after the oxidation step, the silicon oxide layer19 a is selectively etched away using any suitable selective wet or dryetch which selectively etches away silicon oxide compared topolysilicon, such as an oxide wet etch, to leave polysilicon floatinggates 9 a, 9 b in the recesses 62. While layer 19 a is described as asilicon oxide layer, it may comprise a silicon nitride or siliconoxynitride layer formed by nitriding or oxynitriding the polysiliconlayer 9.

In the second alternative method shown in FIG. 8C, a silicide formingmetal layer, such as a titanium, cobalt, nickel, etc., layer is formedover the floating gate layer 9 in the openings 81. The polysilicon layer9 is then partially converted to a metal silicide layer 19 b (e.g.,titanium, cobalt, nickel, etc., silicide) by annealing the structure topartially react layer 9 with the metal layer.

After the silicidation anneal, the polysilicon floating gate chargestorage segments 9 a, 9 b in recesses 62 are not converted to a silicidewhile the rest of layer 9 (e.g., the outside part over protruding secondmaterial 122) is converted to the silicide layer 19 b. The segments 9 a,9 b remain unsilicided because the polysilicon layer 9 is thicker in therecesses 62 than outside of the recesses 62 in openings 81. The partialsilicidation may be a timed silicidation which is timed to terminatebefore the segments 9 a, 9 b are converted to a silicide. Alternatively,the partial silicidation may be controlled by the relative thicknessesof the polysilicon and metal layers such that excess polysilicon isprovided in the recesses 62 which lacks access to sufficient metal toform a silicide. Any remaining portion of the metal layer may be removedfrom the silicide layer 19 b by selective etching.

As shown in FIG. 8D, after the silicidation step, the silicide layer 19b is selectively etched away using any suitable selective wet or dryetch which selectively etches away a silicide material compared topolysilicon, such as a titanium silicide piranha etch.

One difference between the structures of 8A and 8D is the shape of theblocking dielectric 7. In the structure of FIG. 8A made by ananisotropic etching method, the blocking dielectric comprises aplurality of discrete regions 7 a, 7 b, etc. In contrast, in thestructure of FIG. 8D formed by the selective silicide etch, the blockingdielectric 7 comprises a continuous layer which contains regions 7 a, 7b in the recesses 62.

In the resulting structure shown in FIGS. 8A and 8D, the plurality ofthe discrete charge storage segments (e.g., 9 a and 9 b) separated fromeach other are disposed in the recesses between overhanging portions ofthe second material 122. One advantage of the methods of selectivelyremoving outer portion of the charge storage material layer 9 accordingto FIGS. 7B and 8B-8D is that a potential defect of forming‘poly-stringers’ on the side wall (i.e., incomplete removal of the outerportion by dry etching methods) may be completely eliminated. Inaddition, in contrast to dry etch methods, the selective wet etch of asilicon oxide layer 19 a or a silicide layer 19 b may result in lowerdamage to the charge storage segments 9.

Next, a tunnel dielectric 11 is formed over the side wall of the chargestorage material 9 (e.g. the discrete charge storage segments 9 a and 9b) and material 122 exposed in the at least one opening 81, resulting ina structure shown in FIG. 9. If the wet etching method of FIGS. 8B-8D isused to form the charge storage material storage segments 9 a, 9 b, thenthe tunnel dielectric is formed over the side wall of the charge storagematerial 9 (e.g. the discrete charge storage segments 9 a and 9 b) andthe outer portion of the blocking oxide dielectric located on protrudingportions material 122 in the at least one opening 81. The tunneldielectric may comprise a relatively thin insulating layer (e.g., 4 to10 nm thick) of silicon oxide or other suitable material, such asoxynitride, oxide and nitride multi layer stacks, or a high-k dielectric(e.g., hafnium oxide). The tunnel dielectric may be deposited by anysuitable method, such as ALD, CVD, etc.

In an alternative method, the tunnel dielectric 11 may be formed bydirectly converting (e.g., oxidizing) the outer portion of thesemiconductor charge storage material layer 9 in one step, rather thanby the two-step process of removing the outer portion of the layer 9 andforming tunnel dielectric 11 over the side wall of the charge storagematerial 9 in the above described method. In this alternative method, apolysilicon floating gate layer 9 is formed as shown in FIG. 7B. Thepolysilicon layer 9 is then partially oxidized in a timed oxidation toform a relatively thin oxide layer 19 a as shown in FIG. 8B. Anyoxidation method that can provide an oxide with good quality to be usedas the tunneling dielectric, such as a high temperature radicaloxidation process, may be used. The thin oxide layer 19 a is not removedas shown in FIG. 8D, but is retained in the final device as the tunneldielectric, as shown in FIG. 8B. Thus, a deposition of a separate tunneldielectric 11 is not required.

Further, a semiconductor channel material 1 is formed in the at leastone opening 81. In some embodiments, the semiconductor channel material1 completely fills the at least one opening 81 with a semiconductorchannel material, as shown in FIG. 10. Alternatively, the step offorming the semiconductor channel 1 in the at least one opening forms asemiconductor channel material 1 on the side wall(s) of the at least oneopening 81 but not in a central part of the at least one opening 81 suchthat the semiconductor channel material 1 does not completely fill theat least one opening 81. In these alternative embodiments, an insulatingfill material 2 is formed in the central part of the at least oneopening 81 to completely fill the at least one opening 81, as shown inFIG. 11. Preferably, the channel 1 material comprises lightly dopedp-type or n-type (i.e., doping below 10¹⁷ cm⁻³) silicon material. Ann-channel device is preferred since it is easily connected with n+junctions. However, a p-channel device may also be used.

The semiconductor channel 1 may be formed by any desired methods. Forexample, the semiconductor channel material 1 may be formed bydepositing semiconductor (e.g., polysilicon) material in the opening 81and over the stack 120, followed by a step of removing the upper portionof the deposited semiconductor layer by chemical mechanical polishing(CMP) or etchback using top surface of the stack 120 as a polish stop oretch stop.

In some embodiments, a single crystal silicon or polysilicon verticalchannel 1 may be formed by metal induced crystallization (“MIC”, alsoreferred to as metal induced lateral crystallization) without a separatemasking step. The MIC method provides full channel crystallization dueto lateral confinement of the channel material in the opening 81.

In the MIC method, an amorphous or small grain polysilicon semiconductor(e.g., silicon) layer 303 can be first formed in the at least oneopening 81 and over the stack 120, followed by forming a nucleationpromoter layer 305 over the semiconductor layer 303, as shown in FIG.12. The nucleation promoter layer 305 may be a continuous layer or aplurality of discontinuous regions. The nucleation promoter layer maycomprise any desired polysilicon nucleation promoter materials, forexample but not limited to nucleation promoter materials such as Ge, Ni,Pd, Al or a combination thereof.

The amorphous or small grain semiconductor layer 303 can then beconverted to a large grain polycrystalline or single crystallinesemiconductor layer 301 by recrystallizing the amorphous or small grainpolycrystalline semiconductor, resulting in a structure illustrated inFIG. 13. The recrystallization may be conducted by a low temperature(e.g., 300 to 600 C) anneal.

The upper portion of the polycrystalline semiconductor layer 301 and thenucleation promoter layer 305 can then be removed by CMP or etchbackusing top surface of the stack 120 as a stop, resulting in the structureas shown in FIG. 10. The removal may be conducted by selectively wetetching the remaining nucleation promoter layer 305 and any formedsilicide in the top of layer 301 following by CMP of the top of siliconlayer 301 using the top of the stack 120 as a stop.

Further, an upper electrode 202 may be formed over the semiconductorchannel 1, resulting in a structure shown in FIG. 1 or 2. In theseembodiments, a lower electrode 102 may be provided below thesemiconductor channel 1 prior to the step of forming the stack 120 overthe substrate 100. The lower electrode 102 and the upper electrode maybe used as the source/drain electrodes of the NAND string.

Embodiment II

In the second embodiment, the source/drain electrodes of the NAND stringcan both be formed over the semiconductor channel 1 and the channel 1has a U-shaped pipe shape, for example as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. Inthese embodiments, an optional body contact electrode (as will bedescribed below) may be disposed on or in the substrate 100 to provide abody contact to the connecting portion of the semiconductor channel 1from below.

As used herein a “U-shaped pipe” shape is side cross sectional shapeconfigured similar to an English letter “U”. This shape has two segments(referred to herein as “wing portions”) which extend substantiallyparallel to each other and substantially perpendicular to the majorsurface 100 a of the substrate 100. The two wing portions are connectedto each other by a connecting segment or portion which extendssubstantially perpendicular to the first two segments and substantiallyparallel to the surface 100 a. Each of the three segments may have astraight shape (e.g., a rectangle side cross sectional shape) or asomewhat curved shape (e.g., rising and falling with the curvature ofthe underlying topography). The term substantially parallel includesexactly parallel segments as well as segments which deviate by 20degrees or less from the exact parallel configuration. The termsubstantially perpendicular includes exactly perpendicular segments aswell as segments which deviate by 20 degrees or less from the exactperpendicular configuration.

Any desired methods may be used to form the semiconductor channel 1having a U-shaped pipe shape. For example, FIGS. 14-21 illustrate amethod of making a NAND string having a U-shaped pipe shapesemiconductor channel according to the second embodiment of theinvention.

The substrate 100 shown in FIG. 14 may comprise a semiconductorsubstrate optionally containing embedded conductors and/or varioussemiconductor devices. Alternatively, the substrate 100 may comprise aninsulating or semiconductor layer optionally containing embeddedconductors.

First, a sacrificial feature 89 may be formed in and/or over thesubstrate 100, prior to the step of forming the stack 120 of alternatinglayers of the first material and second materials over the at least onesacrificial feature 89. The sacrificial feature 89 may be formed of anysuitable sacrificial material which may be selectively etched comparedto the other materials in the stack 120 and in the NAND string, such asan organic material, silicon nitride, tungsten, etc. Feature 89 may haveany suitable shape which is similar to the desired shape of theconnecting segment of the U-shape as will be described below.

An insulating protective layer 108 may be formed between the sacrificialfeature 89 and the stack 120. For example, layer 108 may comprisesilicon oxide if feature 89 comprises silicon nitride.

Further, at least two openings 81 and 82 are then formed in the stack120, resulting in a structure shown in FIG. 14A. FIG. 14B shows a topcross sectional view along line X-X′ in FIG. 14A. FIG. 14C shows a topcross sectional view along line Z-Z′ in FIG. 14C. FIG. 14A is a sidecross sectional view along line Y-Y′ in FIGS. 14B and 14C. The openings81 and 82 are formed above the sacrificial feature 89, as illustrated inFIGS. 14A-C. In some embodiments, the semiconductor channel has a crosssection of two circles when viewed from above, as shown in FIG. 14B.Preferably, the protective layer 108 is used as a stop for the etchingof the openings 81, 82 such that the top of layer 108 forms the bottomsurface of the openings 81, 82.

The same or similar methods described above in the first embodiment andillustrated in FIGS. 5-13 can then be used to form the blockingdielectric 7 and the plurality of discrete charge storage segments 9 ofthe NAND string in the openings 81, 82 resulting in a structure shown inFIG. 15.

Turning to FIG. 16, the at least one sacrificial feature 89 is thenremoved to form a hollow region 83 where the feature 89 was located. Thehollow region 83 extends substantially parallel to a major surface 100 aof the substrate 100, and connects the at least two openings 81 and 82,forming a hollow U-shaped pipe space 80. The hollow region 83 may beformed by further etching the openings 81, 82 (e.g., by anisotropicetching) such that these openings extend through the protective layer108 to expose the sacrificial feature 89. The sacrificial feature 89material is then selectively etched using a selective wet or dry etchwhich selectively removes the sacrificial feature material withoutsubstantially etching material 122, blocking dielectric 7 and chargestorage segments 9.

Next, a tunnel dielectric 11 and a semiconductor channel 1 over thetunnel dielectric 11 may be formed in the hollow U-shaped pipe space 80.In some embodiments, the step of forming the semiconductor channel 1 onthe side wall of the hollow U-shaped pipe space 80 may completely fillthe hollow U-shaped pipe space 80 with the semiconductor channelmaterial as shown in FIG. 4. Alternatively, the step of forming thesemiconductor channel 1 in the hollow U-shaped pipe space 80 forms asemiconductor channel material on the side wall of the hollow U-shapedpipe space 80 but not in a central part of the hollow U-shaped pipespace 80 such that the semiconductor channel material does notcompletely fill the hollow U-shaped pipe space 80. In these embodiments,an insulating fill material 2 is then formed in the central part of thesemiconductor channel 1 to completely fill the hollow U-shaped pipespace 80, resulting in a structure shown in FIG. 17 (also shown in FIG.3). The semiconductor channel 1 substantially adopts the shape of thehollow U-shaped pipe space 80, which includes the first and secondvertically extending openings 81 and 82 and horizontally extending space83.

Further, the stack 120 is then etched to form a rail shaped gate cut,which is then filled by an insulating material 185, such as siliconoxide, etc., to electrically isolate the control gate electrodes 3surrounding the two wing portions of the semiconductor channel 1 frometch other, resulting in a device shown in FIGS. 18A (perspective view)and 18B (side cross sectional view along line Y-Y′ in FIG. 18A).

A source or drain electrode may the be formed to contact the wingportion of the semiconductor channel 1 located in the first opening 81and the other drain or source electrode contacts the other wing portionof the semiconductor channel 1 located in the second opening 82. In someembodiments, the drain electrode connects to the NAND string channelthrough a drain select transistor 203 a (also referred to as SGD device)and the source electrode connects to the other side of the NAND stringchannel through a source select transistor 203 b (also referred to asSGS device). These select transistors can be formed above thesemiconductor channel 1 on each wing 1 a, 1 b, prior to the gate cut,resulting in a structure shown in FIG. 19.

Subsequently, the gate cut step can then be performed to separate theselect transistors 203 a and 203 b from each other in the same step asthe step separating the control gate electrodes 3 surrounding the twowing portions of the semiconductor channel 1, resulting in a structureshown in FIGS. 20A (perspective view) and 20B (cross sectional viewalong lines Y-Y′ in FIG. 20B).

Next, a cut is made between the select transistors of adjacent NANDstrings, such as between adjacent SGD devices 203 a of adjacent stringsas shown in FIG. 21. Finally, an insulating material 187, such assilicon oxide, etc., is formed in the cut between the selecttransistors, resulting in an array of NAND strings 180 as shown in FIG.21.

Embodiment III

In a third embodiment, rather than a U-shaped pipe shape shown in FIGS.3-4 and 17-21, the semiconductor channel 1 may have a “small” U-shapedside cross section, as shown in FIGS. 22A (perspective view) and 22B(cross sectional view along line Y-Y′ in FIG. 22A). In the secondembodiment, each wing 1 a, 1 b of the U-shaped pipe shape was formed ina separate opening 81, 82. In the present third embodiment, both wingsof the “small” U-shape are formed in the same opening.

Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 22A and 22B, the two wing portions 1 wand 1 w′ of the U-shaped semiconductor channel 1 are formed in the sameopening 81. The wing portion extend substantially perpendicular to amajor surface 100 a of the substrate 100 and are connected by aconnecting portion 1 w″ at the bottom of the opening 81. The connectingportion extends substantially parallel to the major surface 100 a of thesubstrate 100.

As shown in FIG. 22A, an a plurality of U-shaped NAND strings is formedin each opening 81. For example, as shown in FIG. 22A, the first NANDstring 180 a in each opening 81 includes wings 1 w and 1 w′. The secondNAND string 180 b in each opening includes wings 1 x and 1 x′, and soon. The NAND strings may be arranged in a grid shaped array, whichincludes one set strings 180 a, 180 b arranged in a first horizontal “z”direction (i.e., parallel to major surface 100 a of the substrate 100)in the each elongated trench shaped opening 81, and a second set ofstrings 180 a, 180 a in a second horizontal second “x” direction (i.e.,parallel to the major surface 100 a and perpendicular to the zdirection) in each adjacent opening 81.

FIGS. 23-27 illustrate a method of making a NAND string havingsemiconductor channel with the “small” U-shaped side cross section shownin FIGS. 22A-B according to the third embodiment of the invention.

In these embodiments, a connecting feature 1 w″ may be formed in and/orover the substrate 100, prior to the step of forming the stack 120 ofalternating layers of the first material and second materials over theconnecting feature 1 w″. The connecting feature 1 w″ may be asemiconductor or conductor region formed in or over the substrate 100.For example, the connecting feature 1 w″ may comprise a semiconductor orconductor region enclosed by the protective insulating layer 100 b andembedded in the semiconductive layer 100 a, as shown in FIG. 22B.Features 1 w″ may be formed by a damascene process in the trenches inlayer 100 a. Alternatively, features 1 w″ may be formed bylithographically patterning a conductive or semiconductor layer to formthe features 1 w″ followed by forming the insulating layer 100 b andsemiconducting layer 100 a around the features 1 w″.

Further, the at least one opening 81 is then formed in the stack 120,resulting in a structure as shown in FIGS. 23A (perspective view) and23B (cross sectional view along line Y-Y′ in FIG. 23A). In thisnon-limiting example, the opening 81 has a square or rectangular shapedtop cross-section as shown in FIG. 23A. However, other shapes, forexample a circular shape, may be used if desired. An optional bodycontact electrode 102 may be provided in or over the substrate 100 tocontact the connecting portion feature 1 w″ from below.

The blocking dielectric 7 and the plurality of discrete charge storagesegments 9, and the tunnel dielectric layer 11 can then be formed usingmethods described above with respect to the first embodiment and FIGS.5-13, resulting in a structure shown in FIGS. 24A and 24B.

Next, a bottom portion of the tunnel dielectric layer 11 located overthe bottom of the at least one opening 81 and the insulating protectivelayer 108 located below the bottom portion of the tunnel dielectriclayer 11 are then etched (e.g., by anisotropic etching) to expose thesemiconductor connecting feature 1 w″ in the opening 81, resulting in astructure shown in FIG. 25B. The tunnel dielectric layer 11 is alsoremoved from the top of the stack during the same etching step. Thetunnel dielectric layer 11 remains on the sidewall(s) of the openingsimilar to a side wall spacer.

The semiconductor channel material can then be formed in the openings 81using methods described above. Similarly, the semiconductor channelmaterial may completely or partially fill the opening 81. Then, themiddle portion of the semiconductor channel material is etched to formthe two wings portions 1 w and 1 w′ of the U-shaped semiconductorchannel 1, resulting in the structure shown in FIGS. 22A-B. As shown inFIG. 22B, the two wing portions 1 w and 1 w′ of the U-shapedsemiconductor channel 1 are electrically connected by the connectingportion 1 w″ (i.e., the connecting feature 1 w″) which extendssubstantially parallel to the major surface of the substrate 100.Alternatively, the connecting feature 1 w″ connecting the two wingportions of the semiconductor channel 1 w and 1 w′ may be formed duringthe step of etching the middle portion of the semiconductor material byleaving a bottom portion of the semiconductor material filling openings81 unetched, rather than being provided below the stack and exposedprior to the step of forming the semiconductor material.

Next, an insulating fill 2 is formed over the connecting feature 1 w″and between the two separated wing portions 1 w and 1 w′ of the U-shapedsemiconductor channel 1 as shown in FIG. 26.

Similarly, source and drain electrodes 202 ₁ and 202 ₂ may be formedover the semiconductor channel 1 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. One of theselect transistors 203 a contacts the first wing portion 1 w from above,and another one of the select transistors 203 b contacts the second wingportion 1 w′ from above, as shown in FIG. 26.

In some embodiments, prior to the step of etching the bottom portion ofthe tunnel dielectric layer 11 located over the bottom of the at leastone opening 81, a masking spacer layer 14 may be formed over portions ofthe tunneling dielectric layer 11 located on the side wall of the atleast one opening 81 such that the bottom portion of the tunneldielectric 11 remains exposed, as shown in FIG. 27. In theseembodiments, the masking spacer layer 14 protects the tunnel dielectric11 from being damaged during the step of etching the bottom portion ofthe tunnel dielectric and the protective layer 108. The masking spacerlayer 14 may be removed during or after the steps of etching the bottomportion of the tunnel dielectric layer 11 and the insulating protectivelayer 108. The spacer layer 14 may comprise any material which has alower etch susceptibility than the material of layer 11 to the etchingmedium used to etch the bottom of layer 11. For example, if the tunneldielectric layer 11 is silicon oxide, then spacer layer 14 may besilicon nitride. The spacer layer may be formed by typical sidewallspacer formation methods, such as forming layer 14 on the sidewall(s)and bottom of the openings 81 and then anisotropically etching layer 14to leave only sidewall spacer portions of layer 14 over layer 11 on thesidewall(s) of the openings, as shown in FIG. 27.

Embodiment IV

In the fourth embodiment, the monolithic three dimensional NAND stringis formed by using an alternative method from that of the first threeembodiments to form relatively thin floating gate charge storagesegments 9. The resulting vertical NAND string of this embodiment alsoincludes a tunnel dielectric 11 with a straight sidewall and a uniformthickness. In contrast, the tunnel dielectric 11 of the first threeembodiments may have a slightly curved sidewall if the charge storagesegments 9 protrude into the opening 81 past material 122 or if material122 protrudes into the opening 81 past the segments 9. This may cause acurve in the sidewall of the tunnel dielectric and a variation inthickness of the tunnel dielectric 11 as it curves around theprotrusions in the opening 81.

In one configuration of the fourth embodiment, each of the discretecharge storage segments 9 may have a height shorter than that of therespective control gate electrode 3 in the same device level. Forexample, in NAND string 280, a first discrete charge storage segment 9 amay have a height shorter than that of a first control gate electrode 3a and a second discrete charge storage segment 9 b has a height shorterthan that of a second control gate electrode 3 b, as shown in FIG. 28A.The term “height” means a vertical direction perpendicular to the majorsurface 100 a of the substrate 100.

As will be described in more detail below, in another configuration ofthe fourth embodiment, each of the first discrete charge storage segment9 may have a height greater than that of the respective control gateelectrode 3 of the same memory cell. For example, in NAND string 380 afirst discrete charge storage segment 9 a may have a height greater orlonger than that of a first control gate electrode 3 a and a seconddiscrete charge storage segment 9 b has a height greater or longer thanthat of a second control gate electrode 3 b, as shown in FIG. 28B. Theselect transistors are omitted for clarity from FIGS. 28A and 28B.

FIGS. 29-34 illustrate a method of making a NAND string shown in FIG.28A, according to one embodiment of the invention.

Referring to FIG. 29A, a stack 130 of alternating layers of a conductiveor semiconductor control gate material layers 131 (e.g., 131 a, 131 b,etc.) and a sacrificial material layer 132 (e.g., 132 a, 132 b, etc.)are formed over an insulating protective layer 108 located over asubstrate 100. The sacrificial material may comprise any desirablematerials that can be selectively etched compared to the conductive orsemiconductor control gate material. For example, in one embodiment,when the control gate material layers 131 comprise a polysilicon ortungsten control gate material, the sacrificial material layers 132 maycomprise an oxide, such as silicon oxide. The stack 130 may then beetched to form at least one opening 81 in the stack 130. The opening 81may extend to the major surface 100 a of the substrate 100 or to theprotective layer 108. FIG. 29B shows a top cross sectional view alongline X-X′ in FIG. 29A.

Next, a blocking dielectric layer 7 can be formed on a side wall of theat least one opening 81. This is followed by forming a charge storagematerial layer 9 on the blocking dielectric layer 7, a tunnel dielectriclayer 11 on the charge storage material layer 9, a semiconductor channellayer 1 on the tunnel dielectric layer 11 in the at least one opening81, as shown in FIGS. 30A and 30B. Since the method of the fourthembodiment does not form recesses 62, the openings 81 have straightsidewall(s). This leads to the tunnel dielectric layer 11 which hasstraight sidewall(s) and a uniform thickness.

In some embodiments, the step of forming the semiconductor channel layer1 in the at least one opening 81 does not completely fills the at leastone opening 81. In these embodiment, an insulating fill material 2 isthen formed in the central part of the at least one opening 81 tocompletely fill the at least one opening 81, resulting in a structureshown in FIGS. 30A (side cross sectional view) and 30B (top crosssectional view). Alternatively, the fill material 2 may be omitted whenthe step of forming the semiconductor channel layer 1 in the at leastone opening 81 completely fills the at least one opening 81 with asemiconductor channel material.

Turning to FIG. 31, another insulating layer 106 is then formed over thestack 130. Next, the sacrificial material layers 132 may then be removedto expose the blocking dielectric layer 7 between the control gatematerial layers 131 (including between the control gate material layers131 a and 131 b), resulting in a structure as shown in FIG. 32A. Thesacrificial material layers 132 are removed from the back side of thestack 130, rather than through the opening(s) 81.

In some embodiments, in order to open access to the back side of stack130 for removing the sacrificial material layers 132, the cut area(s) 84of the stack 130 are removed first. A top view of a resulting structureaccording to a non-limiting example is shown in FIG. 32B. The cutarea(s) 84 may be formed by forming a mask by photolithography followedby etching the unmasked cut areas.

Further, the blocking dielectric layer 7 and the charge storage materiallayer 9 can then be etched using the first material layers 131 as a maskto form a plurality of separate discrete charge storage segments 9 a, 9b, etc., and separate discrete blocking dielectric segments 7 a, 7 b,etc. In some embodiments, the step of etching the blocking dielectriclayer 7 and the discrete charge storage material layer 9 undercut theblocking dielectric layer 7 and the discrete charge storage materiallayer 9 such that the discrete charge storage segments 7 a, 7 b and theblocking dielectric segments 9A and 9B are shorter than the thickness(i.e., vertical dimension) of the first material layers 131 a and 132 arespectively (i.e., the thickness of the control gates in a respectivedevice level), resulting in a structure as shown in FIG. 33.

An insulating fill material 33 can then be formed between the firstmaterial layers 131, between the blocking dielectric segments 7 andbetween the discrete charge storage segments 9 resulting in verticalNAND strings shown in FIG. 34.

Similarly, an upper electrode 202 may be formed over the semiconductorchannel 1, resulting in a structure shown in FIG. 28A. In theseembodiments, a lower electrode 102 may be provided below thesemiconductor channel 1 prior to the step of forming the stack 130 overthe substrate 100. The lower electrode 102 and the upper electrode 202may be used as the source/drain electrodes of the NAND string. Theselect transistors are not shown for clarity in FIG. 28A. Thesetransistors may be located at the top and bottom of a linear NAND stringshown in FIG. 28A or at the top of a U-shaped NAND string of the secondand third embodiments which can be made by the backside etching methodof this fourth embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 28A, the resulting NAND string 280 may comprise aplurality of device levels over the substrate 100. Each of device levelscomprise a respective control gate 3, a respective blocking dielectricsegment adjacent 7 to the respective control gate 3, a respectivediscrete charge storage segment 9 adjacent to respective blockingdielectric segment 7, a respective portion of the tunnel dielectriclayer 11 adjacent to the respective discrete charge storage segment 9,and a respective portion of the channel layer 1. As explained above, thediscrete charge storage segments 9 have a height shorter than that ofthe control gate electrodes 3 in each respective device level. Themonolithic three dimensional NAND string may further comprise one of asource or drain electrode 202 which contacts the semiconductor channel 1from above, and another one of a source or drain electrode 102 whichcontacts the semiconductor channel from below.

FIG. 35-42 illustrate a methods of making a NAND string 380 shown inFIG. 28B, according to another aspect of the fourth embodiment of theinvention.

Referring to FIGS. 35A and 35B, a stack 140 of alternating layers of afirst sacrificial material 141 (e.g., 141 a, 141 b, etc.) and a secondsacrificial material 142 (e.g., 142 a, 142 b, etc.) are formed over abottom sacrificial layer 408 located over a substrate 100. Thesacrificial materials of layers 141, 142 and 408 may be any desiredmaterials such that the first sacrificial material 141 and the bottomsacrificial material 408 can be selectively etched compared to thesecond sacrificial material 142. For example, in one embodiment, whenthe second sacrificial material 142 comprises a nitride (e.g., siliconnitride), the first sacrificial material 141 and the bottom sacrificialmaterial 408 may comprise an oxide (e.g., silicon oxide). In anotherembodiment, when the second sacrificial material 142 comprise a dopedpolysilicon, the first sacrificial material 141 and the bottomsacrificial material 408 may comprise an undoped polysilicon. The stack140 may then be etched to form at least one opening 81 in the stack 140.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 36A and 36B, a discrete charge storage materiallayer 9 is formed on a side wall of the at least one opening 81,followed by forming a tunnel dielectric layer 11 on the charge storagematerial layer 9, and a semiconductor channel layer 1 on the tunneldielectric layer 11 in the at least one opening 81. In this aspect ofthe fourth embodiment, the step of forming the semiconductor channellayer 1 in the at least one opening 81 does not completely fills the atleast one opening 81. In these embodiment, an insulating fill material 2is then formed in the central part of the at least one opening 81 tocompletely fill the at least one opening 81, resulting in a structureshown in FIGS. 36A (side cross sectional view) and 36B (top crosssectional view along line X-X′ in FIG. 36A). Alternatively, the fillmaterial 2 may be omitted when the step of forming the semiconductorchannel layer 1 in the at least one opening 81 completely fills the atleast one opening 81 with a semiconductor channel material.

Turning to FIG. 37, an insulating layer 406 is then formed over thestack 140. Next, the second sacrificial material layers 142 and thebottom sacrificial material 408 may then be selectively removed withoutremoving the first material layers 141, resulting in a structure shownin FIG. 38A. Similarly, cut areas 94 through the stack 140 shown in FIG.38B may be removed prior to the step of selectively removing the secondsacrificial material layers 142 to open access to the back side of thestack 140. A resulting structure according to a non-limiting example isshown in FIG. 38A (side cross sectional view) and 38B (top crosssectional view along line X-X′ in FIG. 38A).

Next, the charge storage material layer 9 can then be etched using thefirst sacrificial material layers 141 as a mask to form a plurality ofseparate discrete charge storage segments, such as 9 a and 9 b, etc,resulting in a structure shown in FIG. 39. In some embodiments, anoptional etch stop layer (not shown) may be formed on the sidewall ofthe at least one opening 81 prior to the step of forming the chargestorage material layer 9. In these embodiments, the optional etch stoplayer is etched using the first material layers 141 a mask to exposeportions of a side of the charge storage material layer 9 between thefirst material layers 141, prior to the step of etching the chargestorage material layer 9 using the first sacrificial material layers 141as a mask.

Turning to FIG. 40, an insulating material 143 (for example layers 143a, 143 b, etc) is formed between the first material layers 141 to formalternating layers of insulating material layers 143 and the firstmaterial layers 141 through the backside from the cut area region 94.The isolating layer material is than etched out from the cut region 94.A bottom insulating layer 418 may also be formed between the stack 140and the substrate 100 in the same step, filling the space originallyoccupied by the bottom sacrificial layer 408 shown in FIG. 36A.

Further, the first material layers 141 are then selectively removed toexpose side wall of the discrete charge storage segments 9 usinginsulating material 143 as a mask. This is followed by forming ablocking dielectric 7 on the side wall of the discrete charge storagesegments 9 and on the surfaces of the insulating material layers 143exposed in the space previously occupied by layers 141 between theinsulating material layers 143, resulting in a structure shown in FIG.41. The blocking dielectric 7 has a “reverse” clam shape where the openside of the clam shape faces away from the opening 81 rather than towardit. Control gates 3 can then be formed in the empty space in the clamshaped blocking dielectric 7 between the insulating material layers 143,resulting in a structure shown in FIG. 42. For example, the isolatedcontrol gates 3 may be formed by depositing a conductor (e.g.,depositing tungsten by CVD) in the empty space in the clam shapedblocking dielectric 7 and the cut region 94, followed by subsequentlyetching out the portion of conductor located in the cut region 94.

An upper electrode 202 may be formed over the semiconductor channel 1,resulting in a structure shown in FIG. 28B. In these embodiments, alower electrode 102 may be provided below the semiconductor channel 1prior to the step of forming the stack 140 over the substrate 100. Thelower electrode 102 and the upper electrode 202 may be used as thesource/drain electrodes of the NAND string. As described with respect toFIG. 28A above, the select transistors are not shown in FIG. 28B forclarity.

The resulting NAND string 380, as shown in FIG. 28B, may comprise aplurality of device levels over the substrate 100. Each of device levelscomprise a respective control gate 3, a respective blocking dielectricsegment adjacent 7 to the respective control gate 3, a respectivediscrete charge storage segment 9 adjacent to respective blockingdielectric segment 7, a respective portion of the tunnel dielectriclayer 11 adjacent to the respective discrete charge storage segment 9,and a respective portion of the channel layer 1. At least a portion ofeach of the blocking dielectric segments 7 of the NAND string has a clamshape and each of the plurality of control gate electrodes 3 of the NANDis located at least partially in an opening in the clam-shaped portionof a respective blocking dielectric segment 7. In some embodiments, thediscrete charge storage segments 9 have a height greater than that ofthe control gate electrodes 3 in each respective device level becausethe charge storage segments 9 have the same height as the reverse clamshaped blocking dielectric 7, while the control gate electrodes 3 arelocated inside the reverse clam shaped blocking dielectric 7. Themonolithic three dimensional NAND string may further comprise one of asource or drain electrode 202 which contacts the semiconductor channel 1from above, and another one of a source or drain electrode 102 whichcontacts the semiconductor channel from below.

Alternatively, hollow U-shaped pipe space (not shown) may be formedrather than openings 81 shown in FIGS. 29A and 35A. In these alternativeembodiments, the semiconductor channel 1 substantially adopts the shapeof the hollow U-shaped pipe space, rather than having a pillar shape (asshown in FIGS. 28A and 28B). In these alternative embodiments, two upperelectrodes may be used as the source/drain electrodes of the NAND stringcontacting the semiconductor channel from above, with an optional lowerelectrode contacting the bottom portion of the semiconductor channel asa body contact, as shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 22B.

Embodiment V

In the fifth embodiment, at least a first conductive or semiconductor(e.g., heavily doped semiconductor) shielding wing is located between afirst discrete charge storage segment and a second discrete chargestorage segment. The shielding wing reduces parasitic coupling betweenadjacent cells in each vertical NAND string through the insulatingmaterial which separates each cell from an adjacent cell located aboveor below.

For example, as shown in FIG. 43, a shielding wing 12 a is locatedbetween the charge storage segment 9 a located in device level A andcharge storage segment 9 b located in device level B of the NAND string480. The device level B is located over the major surface of thesubstrate (not shown for clarity in FIG. 43) and below the device levelA.

The shielding wing 12 a is located in electrical contact with controlgate electrode 3 a in the same device level (i.e., device level A). Wing12 a may comprise a portion of a conductive or semiconductor layerlocated between adjacent, vertically separated cells and which protrudesinto the space (e.g., opening 81) between charge storage segments 9.Wing 12 may comprise any conductive material, such as a metal or metalalloy, e.g., tungsten, titanium nitride, titanium silicide etc., orsemiconductor material, such as heavily doped polysilicon. In theseembodiments, at least a portion of each of the plurality of blockingdielectric segments 7 has a clam shape and each of the plurality ofdiscrete charge storage segments 9 is located at least partially in anopening in a respective clam-shaped blocking dielectric segment 7.

FIG. 44-48 illustrate a method of making a NAND string 480 shown in FIG.43, according to the fifth embodiment of the invention.

First, a stack 150 of alternating first layers 151 and second layers 152is formed over the substrate (not shown for clarity). The first layers151 (e.g., 151 a in device level A and 151 b in device level B) comprisea conductive or semiconductor control gate material, such as heavilydoped polysilicon. The second layers 152 (e.g., 152 a in device level Aand 152 b in device level B) comprise an insulating sub-layer 153 (e.g.,153 a in device level A and 153 b in device level B), such as siliconoxide, and a first sacrificial sub-layer 154 (e.g., 154 a in devicelevel A and 154 b in device level B) of a different material (such assilicon nitride) than sub-layer 153. The stack 150 is then etched toform at least one opening 81 in the stack as in the prior embodiments,resulting in a structure shown in FIG. 44.

Further, as shown in FIG. 45, a blocking dielectric 7 is then formed inthe opening 81 and in the first recesses 62, and a plurality of discretecharge storage segments 9 separated from each other are formed in thefirst recesses 62 over the blocking dielectric 7 using methods describedin the previous embodiment. The step of forming the blocking dielectric7 in the first recesses 62 comprises forming a plurality of clam-shapedblocking dielectric segments 7 in the first recesses 62, and the step offorming the plurality of discrete charge storage segments 9 comprisesforming each of the plurality of discrete charge storage segments 9inside an opening in a respective one of the plurality of clam-shapedblocking dielectric segments 7.

Next, a tunnel dielectric 11 can then be formed over a side wall of thediscrete charge storage segments 9 exposed in the at least one opening81, followed by forming a semiconductor channel 1 in the at least oneopening 81, using methods described above. In some embodiments, the stepof forming the semiconductor channel 1 in the at least one opening 81forms a semiconductor channel material 1 on the side wall of the atleast one opening 81 but not in a central part of the at least oneopening 81 such that the semiconductor channel material 1 does notcompletely fill the at least one opening 81. An insulating fill material2 in the central part of the at least one opening 81 to completely fillthe at least one opening 81, resulting a structure shown in FIG. 46.Alternatively, the semiconductor channel material 1 completely fills(not shown) the at least one opening 81 with a semiconductor channelmaterial.

Next, a cut area (not shown for clarity) of the stack 150 is then etchedto expose a back side of the stack 150 using methods described in theprevious embodiments (e.g., as shown in FIG. 32B). This is followed byremoving the first sacrificial sub-layers 154 to form second recesses 64(e.g., recess 64 a in device level A and recess 64 b in device level B)from the back side of the stack through the cut area, resulting in astructure shown in FIG. 47. For example, if the sacrificial sub-layers154 comprise silicon nitride, then these sub-layers may be removed by aselective wet etch which selectively etches silicon nitride compared topolysilicon and silicon oxide.

A plurality of conductive or semiconductor shielding wings 12 separatedfrom each other are then formed in the second recesses 64, resulting inthe structure shown in FIG. 43. Wings 12 may comprise ALD or CVDdeposited tungsten layers which are provided through the cut region.After wings 12 are deposited through the cut region, the cut region maybe etched out.

In the above non-limiting example, each first sacrificial sub-layer 154is located above the insulating sub-layer 153 in each second layer 152.For example the first sacrificial sub-layer 154 a in device level A islocated above the insulating sub-layer 153 a in device level A, and thefirst sacrificial sub-layer 154 b in device level B is located above theinsulating sub-layer 153 b in device level B. Thus, the wings 12 arelocated above each respective sub-layer 153 and below each respectivecontrol gate 3 in each memory cell.

Alternatively, the first sacrificial sub-layers 154 may be locatedbelow, rather than above, the insulating sub-layer 153 in each secondlayer 152. In this configuration, the wings 12 are located below eachrespective sub-layer 153 and below each respective control gate 3 ineach memory cell, as shown in FIG. 48. In this configuration, wing 12 ais in electrical contact with gate 3 b of the next cell. Alternatively,wing 12 a may be considered to be part of the cell in level B since thiswing is connected to the control gate in level B.

In FIGS. 43 and 48, each of the plurality of shielding wings 12 islocated between adjacent two of the plurality of discrete charge storagesegments 9. For example, the shielding wing 12 a is located between thediscrete charge storage segments 9 a and 9 b.

In another configuration, the NAND string contains two shielding wingsper cell as shown in FIG. 49. For example, in the cell in level B, inaddition to the first shielding wing 12 b in contact with control gate 3b, each cell further comprises a second conductive or semiconductorshielding wing 13 b located in electrical contact with the control gateelectrode 3 b (i.e., each gate contacts a wing above and a wing belowthe gate). Wing 13 b extends substantially parallel to the major surfaceof the substrate 100 and at least partially between the first discretecharge storage segment 9 a and the second discrete charge storagesegment 9 b, as shown in FIG. 49. In other words, instead of one wing inFIGS. 43 and 48, two shielding wings, for example shielding wing 12 aand shielding wing 13 b, are located between discrete charge storagesegments 9 a and 9 b, as shown in FIG. 49. The shielding wings locatedin the same device level are separated from each other by the firstlayer 151 (i.e., the control gate 3 in these embodiments), while theshielding wings located in adjacent device levels are electricallyisolated from each other by the interlevel insulating layers (e.g., theinsulating sub-layers 153). For example, the shielding wings 12 a and 13a located in the device level A are connected to each other by the firstlayer 151 a (i.e., control gate 3 a) while the shielding wing 12 alocated in device level A and 13 b located in the device level B areseparated from each other by the insulating sub-layer 153 a.

FIGS. 50-51 illustrate a method of making a NAND string shown in FIG.49, according to one embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 50,the second sacrificial layer 152 of the stack 150 further comprises asecond sacrificial sub-layer 155, where the insulating sub-layer 153 islocated below the first sacrificial layer 154 and above the secondsacrificial layer 155. Further, the step of removing the firstsacrificial sub-layer 154 a (to form second recess 64 a in device levelA) also removes the second sacrificial sub-layer 155 a to form thirdrecesses 66 b in device level B located immediately below the devicelevel A, resulting in a structure shown in FIG. 51. Shielding wings 12and 13 are then formed in the second 64 and third 66 recesses, resultingin the structure shown in FIG. 49.

Similarly, an upper electrode (not shown) may be formed over thesemiconductor channel 1, while a lower electrode (not shown) may beprovided below the semiconductor channel 1 prior to the step of formingthe stack 150 over the substrate 100. The lower electrode and the upperelectrode may be used as the source/drain electrodes of the NAND string.

Optionally, at least one sacrificial feature (not shown) may be providedover a substrate and below the stack 150, such that the at least onesacrificial feature can be then removed to form a hollow regionextending substantially parallel to a major surface of the substratewhich connects the at least one openings and another opening in thestack to form a hollow U-shaped pipe space, prior to the step of formingthe tunnel dielectric 11. In this embodiment, the step of forming thesemiconductor channel 1 forms the semiconductor channel in the hollowU-shaped pipe space and adopts the shape of the hollow U-shaped pipespace, as described in the above embodiments.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 52, in NAND string 580 the firstshielding wings 12, the second shielding wings 13 and the control gateelectrodes 3 can be formed in a same step such that each first shieldingwing 12 comprises a lower part of a respective control gate electrode 3and that each second shielding wing 13 comprises an upper part of arespective control gate electrode 3. Preferably, no observable interfaceexists between the first shielding wing 12, the second shielding wing 13and the control gate electrode 3 in each device level. In other words,each of the control gates 3 has a clam shape. For example, as shown inFIG. 52, the first shielding wing 12 a, the second shielding wing 13 aand the control gate electrode 3 a can be formed in a same step suchthat the first shielding wing 12 a comprises a lower part of the controlgate electrode 3 a and that the second shielding wing 13 a comprises anupper part of the control gate electrode 3 a. The first shielding wing12 b, the second shielding wing 13 b and the control gate electrode 3 bare formed in a same step (preferably the same step as the gate andwings in level A) such that the first shielding wing 12 b comprises alower part of the control gate electrode 3 b and that the secondshielding wing 13 b comprises an upper part of the control gateelectrode 3 b.

Each first shielding wing 12 extends at least partially between a firstand an adjacent second of the plurality of the discrete charge storagesegments 9 and a second shielding wing 13 extends at least partiallybetween the first and an adjacent third of the plurality of the discretecharge storage segments 9. For example, the first shielding wing 12 aextends at least partially between the discrete charge storage segments9 a and 9 b, while the second shielding wing 13 a extends at leastpartially between the discrete charge storage segment 9 a and a discretecharge storage segment of an upper device level (now shown). The secondshielding wing 13 b in level B and the first shielding wing 12 a inlevel A are both located between discrete charge storage segments 9 aand 9 b.

Also referring to FIG. 52, at least a portion of each of the pluralityof blocking dielectric segments 7 is located at least partially in anopening in a respective clam-shaped control gate electrode 3, while thefirst discrete charge storage segment 9 is disposed at least partiallybetween the shielding wings 12 and 13 in each device level. For example,segment or floating gate 9 a is located between wings 12 a and 12 b andadjacent to the side of control gate 3 a. The wings 12, 13 and controlgates 3 may be made of any suitable conductive or heavily dopedsemiconductor material, such as tungsten or heavily doped polysilicon.

FIG. 53-57 illustrate a method of making a NAND string 680 shown in FIG.52, according to the fifth embodiment of the invention.

Referring to FIG. 53, a stack 160 of alternating layers of a first layer161 and a second layer 162 are formed over a substrate (not shown). Thefirst layer 161 comprises a first sacrificial sub-layer 164, a secondsacrificial sub-layer 165 and a third sacrificial sub-layer 163 locatedbetween the first sacrificial sub-layer 164 and the second sacrificialsub-layer 165. The stack 160 is then etched to form at least one opening81, resulting in a structure shown in FIG. 53. Next, the thirdsacrificial sub-layer 163 is selectively etched to form first recesses61, as shown in FIG. 54. A plurality of discrete charge storage segments9 separated from each other can then be formed in the first recesses 61using methods described above, resulting in a structure shown in FIG.55.

In some embodiments, the second layer 162 comprises an insulating layer,such as silicon oxide. The third sacrificial sub-layer 163 comprises asacrificial material different from the first sacrificial sub-layer 164,the second sacrificial sub-layer 165, and the second layer 162. In anon-limiting example, the first 164 and second 165 sacrificialsub-layers may comprise silicon nitride, and the third sacrificialsub-layer 163 comprises undoped polysilicon, while the plurality ofdiscrete charge storage segments 9 comprise doped polysilicon.

Similar methods to those described in the previous embodiments above canthen be used to form a tunnel dielectric 11 over a side wall of thediscrete charge storage segments 9 exposed in the at least one opening81, and a semiconductor channel 1 over the tunnel dielectric 11 in theat least one opening 81. In some embodiments, the step of forming thesemiconductor channel 1 in the at least one opening forms asemiconductor channel material on the side wall of the at least oneopening 81 but not in a central part of the at least one opening 81 suchthat the semiconductor channel material 1 does not completely fill theat least one opening 81, and an insulating fill material 2 is thenformed in the central part of the at least one opening 81 to completelyfill the at least one opening 81, resulting a structure shown in FIG.56. Alternatively, the step of forming the semiconductor channel 1 inthe at least one opening completely fills the at least one opening 81with a semiconductor channel material. In this alternative embodiment,the insulating filler material 2 may be omitted.

The stack 160 can then be etched to expose a back side of the stack 160,such as through a cut region similar to the one shown in FIG. 32B. Thisis then followed by removing the first sacrificial sub-layer 164, thesecond sacrificial sub-layer 165 and the third sacrificial sub-layer 163from the back side of the stack through the cut region to form clamshaped openings 86 such that the plurality of discrete charge storagesegments 9 and portions of the tunneling dielectric 11 are exposed inthe clam-shaped openings 86 between layers 162, as shown in FIG. 57.

A blocking dielectric layer is then formed on the stack from the backside such that a plurality of clam-shaped blocking dielectric segments 7are formed in the clam shaped openings 86 around and over the pluralityof discrete charge storage segments 9. Each segment 7 partially fillsthe respective opening 86. The partially filled openings are then filledby forming a plurality of clam shaped control gate electrodes 3 in theclam shaped openings 86 that are partially filled by the clam shapedblocking dielectric segments 7, resulting in a structure shown in FIG.52.

In another aspect of the fifth embodiment, a conductive or semiconductorliner (e.g., 15 a) is located between the control gate electrodes (e.g.,3 a) and blocking dielectric segments (e.g., 7 a) of NAND string 680shown in FIG. 58. The conductive or semiconductor liner 15 has a clamshape and comprises a first shielding wing 12 and a second shieldingwing 13 connected by a connection portion such that the first discretecharge storage segment 9 is disposed at least partially between theshielding wings 12 and 13 and adjacent to the connecting portion.

For example, as shown in FIG. 58, the first shielding wing 12 a extendsat least partially between a first 9 a and an adjacent second 9 bsegments of the plurality of the discrete charge storage segments 9. Thesecond shielding wing 13 a extends at least partially between the first9 a and an adjacent third 9 c segment of the plurality of the discretecharge storage segments 9. Two shielding wings (e.g., 12 a and 13 b)from adjacent memory cells/device levels are located between thediscrete charge storage segments 9 a and 9 b of the adjacent memorycells. The same structure may be repeated in a plurality of devicelevels.

Similar to the liner 15, each of the plurality of blocking dielectricsegments, e.g., 7 a and 7 b, may comprise a clam-shaped portion of ablocking dielectric layer 7 which extends substantially perpendicular tothe major surface of the substrate (not shown). In these embodiments,the tunnel dielectric 11 has a substantially straight sidewall and auniform thickness.

FIGS. 59-63 illustrate a methods of making a NAND string 580 shown inFIG. 58, according to one embodiment of the invention.

Referring to FIG. 59, a stack 170 of alternating layers of a first layer171 and a second layer 172 are formed over a substrate (not shown). Thefirst layer 171 comprises a conductive or semiconductor control gatematerial while the second layer 172 comprises an insulating material.The stack 170 is then etched to form at least one opening 81, resultingin a structure shown in FIG. 59.

The first layer 171 is then selectively etched to form first recesses67, resulting in a structure shown in FIG. 60. A conductive orsemiconductor liner 15 (e.g., heavily doped polysilicon) is then formedin the first recesses 67 through opening 81 by ALD or CVD and subsequentanisotropic etch step. The conductive or semiconductor liner 15 has aclam shape, as shown in FIG. 61. The conductive or semiconductor liner15 may comprise a material which is the same as or different from amaterial of the first layer 171 (i.e., material of control gates 3 shownin FIG. 58).

Next, a blocking dielectric layer 7 is formed in openings 81 topartially fill the first recesses 67. The blocking dielectric layer 7 isformed in the openings in the clam shaped liner 15 between overhangingportions of the second material 172. In some embodiments, the blockingdielectric 7 may be a silicon oxide layer which extends inside the liner15 and outside of portions of the second material 172 in the opening 81Layer 7 adopts the shape of the liner 15, and thus has a clam shapedsegment in each device level. For example, a clam shaped dielectricsegment 7 a is located in device level A, and a clam shaped dielectricsegment 7 b is located in device level B, as shown in FIG. 62. Thediscrete charge storage segments 9 separated from each other can then beformed in the first recesses 67 in openings in the clam shaped blockingdielectric 7 as described in the previous embodiments, resulting in astructure shown in FIG. 63.

Similar methods to those described above can then be used to form atunnel dielectric 11 over a side wall of the discrete charge storagesegments 9 exposed in the at least one opening 81, and a semiconductorchannel 1 is formed over the tunnel dielectric 11 in the at least oneopening 81. In some embodiments, the step of forming the semiconductorchannel 1 in the at least one opening forms a semiconductor channelmaterial on the side wall of the at least one opening 81 but not in acentral part of the at least one opening 81 such that the semiconductorchannel material 1 does not completely fill the at least one opening 81,and an insulating fill material 2 is then formed in the central part ofthe at least one opening 81 to completely fill the at least one opening81, resulting a structure shown in FIG. 58. Alternatively, the step offorming the semiconductor channel 1 in the at least one openingcompletely fills the at least one opening 81 with a semiconductorchannel material. In this alternative embodiment, the insulating fillermaterial 2 may be omitted.

Alternatively, rather than forming separate pillar shaped openings 81having cylindrical, square or rectangular shape shown in FIGS. 44, 50,53 and 59, two openings connected by a hollow connecting region havinghollow U-shaped pipe shape of the second embodiment may be formed. Inthese alternative embodiments, the semiconductor channel 1 substantiallyadopts the shape of the hollow U-shaped pipe space, rather than having apillar shape (as shown in FIGS. 43, 49 and 52 and 58). In thesealternative embodiments, two upper electrodes may be used as thesource/drain electrodes of the NAND string contacting the semiconductorchannel from above, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, with an optional lowerelectrode contacting the bottom portion of the semiconductor channel asa body contact.

In the above described examples, the semiconductor channel 1 and theopenings 81 have either a circular or a square top cross section whenviewed from above. However, any other top cross sectional shapes may beused, for example but not limited to oval, triangular, or polygon, suchas square, rectangle, pentagon, hexagon, etc.

The foregoing description of the embodiments of the invention has beenpresented for purposes of illustration and description. It is notintended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise formdisclosed, and modifications and variations are possible in light of theabove teaching or may be acquired from practice of the invention. Theembodiments were chosen and described in order to explain the principlesof the invention and as a practical application to enable one skilled inthe art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with variousmodification are suited to the particular use contemplated. It isintended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claimsappended hereto and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of making a monolithic three dimensionalNAND string, comprising: forming a stack of alternating layers of afirst material and a second material over a substrate, wherein the firstmaterial comprises a conductive or semiconductor control gate materialand wherein the second material comprises a sacrificial material whichcan be selectively etched compared to the first material; etching thestack to form at least one opening in the stack; forming a blockingdielectric layer on a side wall of the at least one opening; forming adiscrete charge storage material layer on the blocking dielectric layerin the at least one opening; forming a tunnel dielectric layer on thediscrete charge storage material layer in the at least one opening;forming a semiconductor channel layer on the tunnel dielectric layer inthe at least one opening; removing the second material to expose theblocking dielectric layer between the first material layers; etching theblocking dielectric layer and the discrete charge storage material layerusing the first material layers as a mask to form a plurality ofseparate discrete charge storage segments and blocking dielectricsegments; and depositing an insulating material between the firstmaterial layers, between the blocking dielectric segments and betweenthe discrete charge storage segments.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereinthe discrete charge storage material layer comprises a discrete chargestorage dielectric material.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein thediscrete charge storage material layer comprises a floating gatematerial.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein: the NAND string comprises aplurality of device levels over the substrate; and each of the first andsecond device levels comprise a respective control gate, a respectiveblocking dielectric segment adjacent to the respective control gate, arespective discrete charge storage segment adjacent to respectiveblocking dielectric segment, a respective portion of the tunneldielectric layer adjacent to the respective discrete charge storagesegment, and a respective portion of the channel layer.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the step of etching the blocking dielectric layer andthe discrete charge storage material layer undercut the blockingdielectric layer and the discrete charge storage material layer suchthat the discrete charge storage segments and the blocking dielectricsegments are shorter than the respective control gates.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, wherein: the first material comprises a polysilicon controlgate material; and the second material comprises an oxide.
 7. The methodof claim 1, wherein: the first material comprises a tungsten controlgate material; and the second material comprises an oxide.
 8. The methodof claim 1, wherein the step of forming the semiconductor channel layerin the at least one opening completely fills the at least one openingwith a semiconductor channel material.
 9. The method of claim 1, whereinthe step of forming the semiconductor channel layer in the at least oneopening forms a semiconductor channel material on the side wall of theat least one opening but not in a central part of the at least oneopening such that the semiconductor channel material does not completelyfill the at least one opening.
 10. The method of claim 9, furthercomprising forming an insulating fill material in the central part ofthe at least one opening to completely fill the at least one opening.11. The method of claim 1, furthering comprising forming an upperelectrode over the semiconductor channel.
 12. The method of claim 11,furthering comprising providing a lower electrode below thesemiconductor channel prior to forming the stack of alternating layers.13. A monolithic three dimensional NAND string, comprising: asemiconductor channel located over a substrate, at least one end of thesemiconductor channel extending substantially perpendicular to a majorsurface of the substrate; a plurality of control gate electrodes havinga strip shape extending substantially parallel to the major surface ofthe substrate, wherein the plurality of control gate electrodes compriseat least a first control gate electrode located in a first device leveland a second control gate electrode located in a second device levellocated over the substrate and below the first device level; and aplurality of discrete charge storage segments, wherein the plurality ofdiscrete charge storage segments comprise at least a first discretecharge storage segment located in the first device level and a seconddiscrete charge storage segment located in the second device level; ablocking dielectric located between the plurality of discrete chargestorage segments and the plurality of control gate electrodes; and atunneling dielectric located between the plurality of discrete chargestorage segments and the semiconductor channel; wherein: the blockingdielectric comprising a plurality of blocking dielectric segments; eachof the plurality of the blocking dielectric segments is located incontact with a respective one of the plurality of control gateelectrodes; at least a portion of each of the blocking dielectricsegments has a clam shape; and each of the plurality of control gateelectrodes is located at least partially in an opening in theclam-shaped portion of a respective blocking dielectric segment.
 14. Themonolithic three dimensional NAND string of claim 13, wherein the tunneldielectric have a straight sidewall and an uniform thickness.
 15. Themonolithic three dimensional NAND string of claim 13, wherein theplurality of discrete charge storage segments comprise a plurality ofdiscrete charge storage dielectric features.
 16. The monolithic threedimensional NAND string of claim 13, wherein the plurality of discretecharge storage segments comprise a plurality of floating gates.
 17. Themonolithic three dimensional NAND string of claim 13, wherein: theblocking dielectric comprises oxide; the tunneling dielectric compriseoxide; and the plurality of control gate electrodes comprise tungsten ordoped polysilicon.
 18. The monolithic three dimensional NAND string ofclaim 13, wherein the first discrete charge storage segment has a heightgreater than that of the first control gate electrode and the seconddiscrete charge storage segment has a height greater than that of thesecond control gate electrode.
 19. The monolithic three dimensional NANDstring of claim 13, further comprising one of a source or drainelectrode which contacts the semiconductor channel from above, andanother one of a source or drain electrode which contacts thesemiconductor channel from below.